


Into the Water, Let It Pull Him Under (Don't You Lift Him, Let Him Drown Alive)

by Huntress8611



Series: Whumptober 2020 [27]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: BAMF Quynh | Noriko, Day 27, Drowning, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fear, Flashbacks, Flooding, Good Quynh | Noriko, Hurt/Comfort, Immortal Wives Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko, Natural Disasters, OK who had natural disasters on their 2020 bingo card?, Panic, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Andy | Andromache of Scythia, Quynh | Noriko-centric, Rescue, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020, floods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:06:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27240184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress8611/pseuds/Huntress8611
Summary: She looked down, to the area below the hill she was on. It was covered in many feet of water, which was running down the streets, like rivers. Then, her eyes caught on something. No, not something, a person. A child. She didn’t even hesitate. The others were too far, and she wasn’t going to risk a child drowning when she had the chance to prevent it, so she jumped right into the water.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko
Series: Whumptober 2020 [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946887
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Into the Water, Let It Pull Him Under (Don't You Lift Him, Let Him Drown Alive)

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this work is from the song Bottom of the River by Delta Rae.
> 
> This work fills the prompt for Whumptober Day 27: Ok, Who Had Natural Disasters on Their 2020 Bingo Card?.
> 
> TWs: PTSD, flashbacks, panic attacks, drowning, natural disasters, flooding

Quynh wasn’t supposed to get in the water. She doesn’t  _ want _ to get in the water. Like Andromache and the others had said, she wouldn't be able to help anyone if she was having a flashback or panic attack. She’d agreed, which was why while the others were out, looking for people trapped by the flood, she was leading people to higher ground and helping people who were injured.

This was something she could do. She could still help, even without getting in the water. Quynh carefully led an old woman higher, not wanting to take the risk of leaving her where she was, just in case the waters rose.

She looked down, to the area below the hill she was on. It was covered in many feet of water, which was running down the streets, like rivers. Then, her eyes caught on something. No, not something, a person. A child. She didn’t even hesitate. The others were too far, and she wasn’t going to risk a child drowning when she had the chance to prevent it, so she jumped right into the water.

When the water went over her head, even though it was only for seconds, she felt panic hit her immediately, but she shoved it down, swimming as fast as she could towards the child.

“Quynh!” she heard someone call out. Andromache, she thought.

She ignored her, moving as quickly as she could, and managed to grab the little girl right before she went under. The currents were strong, and she had to use every bit of strength that she had in order to get to an area that was above the water.

There was a woman standing there, and Quynh passed the girl over to her, intending to get out on her own, but then was pulled under the water by the currents. The panic she’d felt earlier immediately took over completely. There would be no suppressing it now. She was under the water, and she didn’t know which way was up. For just a moment her head was above water, and then she was underwater again.

She held her breath as long as she could, managing a few breaths whenever she was able to get her head above water. She heard her name called out, but couldn’t keep above water long enough to respond. This time, she couldn’t find the surface. She couldn’t find the surface, and then she was drowning. She screamed, bubbles rushing from her mouth before her lungs forced her to inhale water, and she died.

When she woke, she was still underwater and her mind couldn’t decide what was happening. Was she stuck in a flood, close to the surface and likely to be rescued, or was she at the bottom of the ocean? It didn’t matter either way, because her lungs were burning and she drowned yet again.

“Quynh!”

Quynh gasped, coughing and breathing in as fast and deep as she could. She opened her eyes and realized that she was still in the water, but being held up by Andromache, who was carrying her towards higher ground.

She grabbed onto the other woman as tightly as she could, and pretty soon they were both on land again.

“Quynh, Quynh,” Andy said, grabbing her face between her hands. “Quynh.”

Quynh met her eyes, and she just knew that Andromache could see her panic and confusion in them.

“Quynh, it’s okay. You weren’t in the ocean. There was a flood, you were helping a child,” Andy reminded her gently.

“Andromache,” she whispered, moving her hands to her back and practically pulling herself into her lap.

“You were supposed to stay out of the water,” Andy said, resting her chin on Quynh’s head, holding her close. “You weren’t supposed to do that.”

“I saw a kid, Andy,” she said. “I couldn’t- I couldn't let a little kid  _ drown. _ Nobody else was close, I barely got to her in time.”

“I know,” she murmured, running a hand through Quynh’s hair. “I know, you did good, you just scared me.”

“I scared myself,” Quynh said with a small laugh. If she didn’t laugh about it, she was going to cry about it, and she wouldn’t be able to help anyone else if she was crying and panicking.

She closed her eyes and pressed her face into the crook of Andromache’s neck, shivering. They sat there like that for a while, until Quynh worked up the resolve to pull away.

“I- we need to keep helping,” she said resolutely. “We can still help.”

Andromache looked at her, fondness in her eyes, and gently kissed her before pressing their foreheads together, and she let out a sigh.

“Okay,” she said. “Okay, but this time you stay here, you hear me? No jumping in the water and scaring me half to death.”

“I’ll do my best.”


End file.
